Functional medicine is an integrative approach that is personalized and aimed at understanding the cause of illness, disease management, and prevention. The goal of functional medicine is complete healing and leading a healthy and fulfilled life. The experts in functional medicine take time to gather your medical history and listen to you. The information is used to identify the root causes of illnesses and any triggers such as genetics, allergens, toxins, stress, or poor nutrition.

Upon identifying the causes of the disease, Denver Functional Medicine develops a healthy living plan for the patient. The plan addresses all the aspects of your life, including sleep patterns, emotional stressors, nutrition, and exercise. Functional medicine uses food as the main form of therapy. The right nutrients in the body with the behavioral and lifestyle interventions are helpful to turn around your health.

What to Expect During the Treatment

During the first visit, you need to do a complete medical questionnaire that provides information relevant for investigations regarding the cause of the condition ailing you. In the questionnaire, you need to answer questions relating to your genetics, environment, and lifestyle. Your lifestyle has to do with the type of food you eat, hobbies, work-life, and mood stressors. The environment you live in may expose you to allergens and toxins that may affect your life negatively.

You will have a one-on-one visit with the health practitioner and group sessions with other patients with similar problems. At the facility, you also get to meet qualified and registered dieticians and a health coach that guides you through the treatment interventions.

Some facilities have options for one on one medical appointments and group sessions. Some sessions are done in the facilities, while others are done virtually depending on individual needs.

Foundations of Functional Medicine

The following are the pillars of the functional health care approach;

• Integrative

Functional medicine uses the latest evidence of science-based evidence together with patient preferences and clinical expertise to change the life of the affected people. It is an integrative approach that starts from within a patient’s genetic composition and moves outward to understand what triggers body function, leading to illnesses.

The internal aspects of the body, to a large extent, affect the physical and social environment. Understanding the internal well-being of a patient is critical in evaluating an individual for optimal body function.

• Patient-Centered

The treatment of chronic illnesses with the help of functional medicine is wholly patient-centered. The health professional helps patients discover important facts relating to their health. Getting a patient’s history and learning about their experiences helps them understand the relationship between the condition and their lifestyle.

The physician comes up with a management plan that is personalized depending on the individual patient. The patient is part of the treatment process and must change their behavior and lifestyle for successful and effective results.

The number of people suffering from chronic illnesses is rising, and functional medicine is the best approach for treatment. It addresses the root cause of the problem and deals with it, and this helps with complete healing rather than eradicating the symptoms through medication.